the.com/uranium
the rock that ends arguments by turning entire cities into history lessons
means A dense, radioactive metallic element (atomic number 92) whose unstable atoms release energy when split, making it the key fuel for nuclear reactors and the explosive heart of atomic weapons.
from Named in 1789 by the German chemist Martin Klaproth, who isolated an oxide of it and christened it after Uranus — the planet discovered just eight years earlier by William Herschel. Uranus in turn carries the name of the Greek sky-god Ouranos, the primordial heavens. So this earth-shaking metal is, etymologically, named for the sky.
- named after
- the planet Uranus, discovered eight years earlier
- glassmaking
- tinted antique glass that glows green under blacklight
- half-life
- U-238 takes 4.5 billion years to halve
- banana comparison
- bananas are radioactive, just vastly less ambitious
- natural reactor
- Africa hosted a self-sustaining nuclear reactor 2 billion years ago
oklo natural reactor — natural nuclear fission reactor in oklo, gabon discovered 1972, operated 2 billion years ago
hanford site — produced plutonium from uranium for atomic bomb, washington state, 1943-1989
kashmir dispute — india and pakistan fought wars over uranium-rich territory in 1947, 1965, 1999
fukushima daiichi — nuclear plant used uranium fuel rods, japan, melted down march 2011